An unfulfilled need exists in the prior art for a truly portable dental machine for use by dentists who are "on call" to nursing homes, homes of invalids, hospital emergency rooms and the like. While the prior patented art contains some teachings of partly mobile dental units, none of these units approaches the compactness, overall reduced weight, and comparative low cost of manufacturing of the present invention. No known prior art device possesses the ability of the present invention to be bodily lifted, carried and to be placed in the most convenient operating position on any level support surface by means of a simple lifting handle and a stable supporting base, each attached to the motor-compressor unit which forms the body of the apparatus.
Some examples of the known prior art are shown in the following United States patents:
U.S. Pat. No. 2,351,943 PA1 U.S. Pat. No. 3,427,719 PA1 U.S. Pat. No. 3,949,480.
The portable dental apparatus can be enclosed and operated in a noise suppression box or enclosure, not shown, to further enhance its utility. It may also be equipped with conventional quick disconnect couplings on dental and vacuum units so that these components can be quickly transferred to another compressor by the dentist. This feature will allow the dentist to purchase only the dental and vacuum units for connection to a compressor at the hospital or nursing home. If preferred, the dentist can purchase the completely self-contained apparatus including the motorized compressor so as to be independent of outside equipment.
Other features and advantages of the invention will become apparent during the course of the following detailed description.